Abstract:Mineral fortification with calcium, iron, zinc, and selenium was performed during the rice fermentation brewing process to obtain mineral-rich distillers’ grains. Additionally, the transport of these minerals in the mineral-rich lees was studied using the human Caco-2 colon cell line. The mineral-rich distillers’ grains obtained after addition of 4 000, 600, 1 000, and 30 mg/kg (mass fraction), respectively, of calcium, iron, zinc, and selenium to the rice base contained 169.21, 19.28, 9.34, and 11.07 mg/kg of the respective mineral. The cell experiment results showed that the transport rates of calcium, iron, and zinc in the mineral-rich distillers’ grains were significantly higher than those in the inorganic mineral control group grains (50.30%, 60.89%, and 35.07%, respectively; P<0.05). The transport rates of calcium, iron, zinc, and selenium were significantly higher than the inorganic control group, with an increase of 3.00, 12.63, 11.77, and 2.49 times, respectively. Together, these results indicate that mineral-fortified distillers' grains from rice fermentation possess enhanced transport and absorption properties, offering a promising strategy for developing high-quality mineral-fortified foods and dietary supplements.